


rust & stardust

by orphan_account



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Eventual Happy Ending, M/M, Magic, Magical Realism, Urban Fantasy, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-24 01:12:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17091272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: ❝ You and I know each other in our bones. ❞— Kurt Vonnegut, 1973





	rust & stardust

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cryptidsoap](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cryptidsoap/gifts).



> ( 🎶: Talking to the Moon by KREAM & Lovesick by Never Shout Never )

Minghao crosses the road in a hurry and nearly misses the narrow street that leads to his destination. He jumps over a stray trash can spilling its guts on the bleak asphalt while his long coat floats behind him. There are no streetlights at this part of the city so he is running alone in the dark, only the beating of his heart and his worries keep him company. 

Three minutes later he finally sees the monstrous building of the abandoned museum, a neo-renaissance marvel of a kind squeezed between two tenements. He yearns to stop and admire it like he did hundreds of times before, but now he has not even a minute to spare. Instead of the main entrance he heads the opposite way where a small storage door waits for him, bearing the easiest lock in the city. The weed reaches his knees and the icy wind pulls at him, threatening to drag him away. It's early december, but the whole city is frozen already, and while it hasn't snowed yet, Minghao still needs to warm himself with magic when he waits for the tramway every afternoon.

An inner voice mocks him, tells him he's far too late and paints the worst scenarios possible on the canvas of his mind again and again. His response; speeding up. His lungs are burning and he's not sure how long will he last but then he finally sees the door and leaps towards it, his palm connecting with the metal first, the handle giving in to the pressure of the well-practiced spell. A loud click and he practically falls into the storage room, bruising his knees on the floor and tearing a hole in his dark jeans. A necessary bad. He stoops and heaves, but does not stand for another minute, until he can ease the trembling of his hands.

When on his feet again he hesitates before continuing, listens carefully, though there's little to no chance anyone else would be there. Not anyone alive, to be precise.

He closes his eyes, exhales, then walks through the storage room and enters the museum.

 

 

_It started with a headline like this:_ the magic is fading away from our reality, step by step _._

_Minghao was barely two centuries worth of summers old when he was forced to learn the truth, but he took it considerably well, with a blank expression and a hollow heart._

_“And who can prove this statement? We don't know what happened exactly!” Jeonghan emerged from his seat, furrowing his brows._

_“Currently Soonyoung and Vernon are investiga-” Seungcheol started but he was cut off right away by someone else._

_"How could the media release unconfirmed claims without asking for our agreement? Shouldn't they be on our side?" Jihoon leaned forward, gazing around the conference room with sharp eyes. Most of the chairs were empty, this discussion was for their inner circle only._

_"Would you pl-" Seungcheol retorted, but then Seokmin spoke up._

_"It's not just about us, all the covens are silent."_

_"Then we can make it look like a fake media scandal for now." Wonwoo said without looking up from his laptop, his fingertips hitting the keyboard in a steady rythm._

_"And how? I'm all ears for your suggestions." Jihoon crossed his arms and didn't seem convinced._

_"Can you show some-"_

_"I said I'm-"_

_The argument between them rose quickly and before Minghao could even blink everyone in the room was raising their voices, letting out the pent up stress of the previous days._

_Suddenly magic sparkled like electricity in the air while simultaneously the faint, sour taste of iron appeared on the tip of his tongue. His instincts kicked in and he was about to protest, to interfere before the worst happened when Seungcheol's fist connected with the ancient wooden table, demanding attention._

_All of them stood motionless._

_The silence stretched thin between them and Minghao gritted his teeth, waiting for one heartbeat, two, three..._

_"Thank you." Seungcheol sighed and sat back to his ridiculously oversized leather chair. "We don't know what we are facing. The disturbance all of us sensed was momentary and left no trace. Right now, we need to search for its source."_

_"Wouldn't we need help from outside for this?" Minghao heard himself posing the question before he could shut his mouth for good._

_"No." Jeonghan smiled sweetly, but there was a dangerous edge to his voice. "We only need_ you _."_

 

 

It's even colder in the museum, like in a crypt. Minghao pulls the belt of his coat tighter and watches his steps carefully. He could warm himself up, make magic run under his skin without as much as moving a finger, but he considers the golfball sized orb emitting dim light in front of him more important. He tries to refer from any unnecessary use of mana - he needs to keep himself prepared tonight. 

Except for a few rats and a confused bat he doesn't encounter anything in the first three rooms. The walls are crumbling and there are but dust and junk where the exhibitions used to be. Through the cracks and breaks on the ceiling he can see the cloudy night sky, but even that can't bring its usual and now very much needed comfort. The wind blows through the empty halls and Minghao shivers. He is getting closer to the center of the building, he can feel it in his guts. Magic is gently tugging at his bones, at the very core of his being, it's the warmest calling imaginable and Minghao lets his intuition lead him.

He has been here once what seems like a lifetime ago, he knows, but can't remember any of it, no matter how hard he tries.

The white noise in his ears is growing louder.

He counts the corridors he passes but soon he is lost in the labyrinth of hallways. He recites the message for the thousandth time that brought him there, the teasing tone of those words that made him so anxious. The more he thinks the more is he scared of what he will find in the stomach of the building. He regrets not calling Seungcheol right away.

He never curses, not usually, because Such prestigious family's child should not talk like poor kids, Minghao but he lets out a milder swear when he realises he reached the enormous main hall and it's everything but empty.

Exactly what he was afraid of.

 

 

_"You are going too far trying to save the world." he had told him and held his face in his hands, his eyes radiating nothing but worry. "Think about yourself, for once. You can't take the weight of the whole world on your shoulders."_

_"But I have to try." he replied._

_And back then it seemed right._

 

 

In the middle that once must have been the concrete pedestal of a greek or roman statue now sits a young man, looking exactly like the last time Minghao met him. The same black suit without a tie, slicked back hair and expensive shoes. The latters, Minghao choosed them for him personally.

Suspicion is the lightest word to describe what he is feeling. 

"So you have figured it out after all!" Mingyu grins the most brilliant smile and his eyes are tingling with a galaxy worth of stars. 

 

_“Druids derive their power from the stars and planets beyond our world, Minghao, look out for them-”_

 

"It wasn't that hard." he snaps out of his stupor and stares at the other boy with learned disinterest, keeping his cool for the moment and silently plans escape routes if things turn for the worse. With him, they usually do.

"I hoped you'd be glad to see me once again." he stands and stretches his arms and legs like an oversized dog. 

"Why of course. I already forgot the fact you have betrayed us." 

Mingyu's smile falters, but doesn't disappear. "Isn't betray a bit too strong? I left when-"

"It doesn't matter." Minghao says quietly and his voice is filled with sadness and pity. "Why did you want me here?" he asks, but knows the answer already. 

"This is where it all started. When we felt the break in magic five years ago, it happened here.” Mingyu raises his eyes at what remains of the painted ceiling, observes it, then returns his gaze to his ex-partner. "The only place where we can fix it. But I’m sure you have realised it by now.” 

Minghao's attention is glued to the small clouds his breaths make and he thinks.

 

_“You are a human amplifier? What does that even mean?” Minghao shifted his weight on the matress so their faces were mere centimeters away._

_“I strengthen the power of the people I connect with.” Mingyu whispered in the dark, his breath tickling the other boy’s cheeks._

 

Minghao opens his mouth then closes it, gaping like a fish. You should tend to your own mistakes alone he wants to say, but his voice doesn’t comply. He looks at Mingyu and bites his lips. 

 

_“He… left?”_

_“Yes.” Soonyoung answered after a pause. The phone was burning in Minghao’s hand._

_“It’s a hospital, you can’t leave without anyone noticing, right? Can’t you call him?”_

_“Joshua has been trying for hours without any success…”_

 

Mingyu keeps looking at him expectantly as if he aims for reading his thoughts. 

The others wouldn’t trust him, or even worse, would arrest him right away. But Minghao knows better and remembers.

Then nods. 

 

_“Promise?” Minghao asked threading his fingers through Mingyu’s thick locks and smiled._

_“Yeah. Together.” the reply comes in the form of a quiet giggle._

_Minghao’s heart sings behind the prison of his ribcage and feels free for the first time in an eternity._

 

The flowering, intoxicating sweetness of stars runs amok in Minghao’s veins and he is overflowing with magical power. He could conquer the universe now if he wanted. 

They are connected by their hands and he is chanting the most powerful spell he is able to remember. He sees nebulas exploding behind his eyelids and his mind is fogged with the sudden rush of raw power. 

He is deaf to the shouting that comes from right next to his ear until he feels a sharp pain in his hand, where Mingyu digs his nails into his flesh. 

“Concentrate!” he growls and holds onto him tighter. 

 

_“Promise?”_

 

Minghao feels the stream of magic and grabs onto it, feels it coming from the walls and bright scenes flash in front of his eyes, pictures of the building’s past. 

 

_“Yeah.”_

 

And then he is panicking, trying to control it all at once, and everything turns to white as he reaches for the tear in time and space and then… Then nothing. 

 

_“Together.”_

 

A breath of fresh air never tasted so sweet, but it turns to a sob. He feels Mingyu’s strong arm around him and the first thing he hears after the ringing stops is this:

“We did it!” he laughs with all the relief in the world. 

Minghao buries his face into his shoulders and cries while Mingyu rubs soothing circles on his back. 


End file.
